The cafe serves a range of drinks made with locally sourced ingredients as well as food, and is open from 8am to 10.30am, but food is served only from 9am to 3pm and 5pm to 9pm.

Bluebirds’ Nest is currently running a seasonal special menu with drinks such as the mulberry mojito (VND45,000), a sour carbonated berry and mint-flavoured drink with a hint of rum. Or the mulberry kumquat juice (VND35,000), a soft well balanced, berry-flavoured drink.

An exciting new addition to the menu is the green kumquat honey ice blend (VND40,000). It’s sweet, tangy and very refreshing. Or if you’re more into warm, cozy drinks, the almond sugar cookie tea might be perfect for you.

They also have snacks and desserts ranging from VND15,000 to VND40,000 as well as a regular food menu serving salads, soups, some rice dishes and Italian-inspired fare.

The food is made in house by a chef who used to work for the Sheraton Hotel.

One great thing about the café is the amount of books on offer. They have a huge bookshelf covering the wall. Although most books are in Vietnamese, there are a few in English. These are for customers to enjoy only at the store. But the cafe also has a book exchange box for customers to take and leave books.

Bluebirds’ Nest supports creative group collaboration. If you are a group who participates in activities or discussions to do with culture, art, creation, education, or community development you can enjoy a 10% discount on menu items when you book your group in ahead of time. The space is free to use and includes facilities such as speakers and a projector screen.

Groups as small as 10 or as big as 50 are easily accommodated here. Or if you’re on your own, there are plenty of outlets for customers to use. Many students and working professionals frequent Bluebirds’ Nest to work on their computers over a refreshing drink and a bite to eat.

Going Green

If you’re a cyclist, you can enjoy a 15% discount on drinks when you ride your bike there.

Bluebirds’ Nest is involved with the organisation Live and Learn Environmental Education and are taking steps in the way they run the cafe towards a greener way of living.

They use stainless steel straws for their drinks to cut down on the waste that plastic straws create. As well as this, they source all their ingredients locally.

The cafe holds movie nights every Tuesday from 7.30pm to 10pm. Entry is free, and they watch mostly foreign movies with Vietnamese subtitles. They announce the movies regularly on their Facebook page.

More themed nights may be happening in the future.

Bluebirds’ Nest was named after the Charles Bukowski poem Bluebird. Co-owner Binh worked at a bank for a long time but felt she had a “bluebird in [her] heart that wanted to get out”, as is written in the poem. She created this cafe working space based on the concept of a “nest where bluebirds like me can come and sing together.”

Bluebirds Nest is a great location, in a peaceful little courtyard not far from Tay Ho or Hoan Kiem, which makes for the perfect place for writers, teachers, or nomadic workers to come and grab a drink, and work away.

Amelia - known by her friends as Millie - is a young Australian who moved to Hanoi at just 19 years old. She originally came for just one month but before she knew it she'd met the love of her life and began to live out her dream career. She now lives in Hanoi semi-permanently and writes both for pleasure and for work.